DAVID AXELROD: I was one of the people who prepared him. And I’m happy to take whatever responsibility people want to assign to me. I think it was more of what I said though. I think he went thinking that this was going to be a discussion about the country’s future and he was confronted with this kind of gantry-esque performance on the other side, just serially rewriting history before his eyes.

Oh, I see. He was perfectly willing to take responsibility for Obama’s incredibly weak performance … before he wasn’t, opting to try and blame Romney, instead. Straight talking obviously isn’t Axelrod’s forte.

DAVID AXELROD: Elmer Gentry. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thanks for clarifying.

Ann Althouse already took on the Elmer Gantry reference at Instapundit. In addition, Gantry – as played by Burt Lancaster in the movie (he even sings) – was incredibly charismatic. One knock on Mitt Romney is that he’s not. Don’t bother trying to connect the dots in that Axelrod disconnect. These guys are spinning to the point it looks like flailing and that’s not a positive sign for them.

DAVID AXELROD: Well, I think that the President was taking notes on what was being said because he wanted to make sure that he was– that he was responsive. You know, again, I think that from a stylistic standpoint I think the President is, as I said, his harshest critic.

LOL If he was taking notes to be “responsive,” then why the Hell wasn’t he? Axelrod is really selling that “own worst critic” nonsense. Thanks for letting us know how humble he is … now. Who are we to believe, you, or our own lying eyes? Clearly they’ve identified an image problem. Plus, with all the horrific criticism of Obama’s debate debacle, including from his own side, it’s laughable that he could come close to being his own worst critic this go round. Nice try, though, David.

DAVID AXELROD: So good to be with you guys. Thank you.

Yes, nothing like trying to haul your boss’s ashes out of the fire after he burns himself so badly in a debate, but is so busy raising money and assuring Hollywood it won’t happen, again, he couldn’t manage to try and do it himself.

We’ll see what happens in November but these guys may be fresh out of snake oil to sell. For now, the whole team is starting to sound as if it smokes Arugula, or somethin’.